Person Details
Birthday:
Aliases: Ralph Rathgeber
Gender: Male
Place of birth: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 46
TV Involvements: 27
Most Famous Work
Biography
Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 – August 5, 1988) was an American actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of Mister Roberts (1948–1951) and Picnic (1953), the former of which earned him a Theatre World Award for his performance. In film, Meeker is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich's 1955 Kiss Me Deadly. Meeker went on to play a series of roles that used his husky and macho screen presence, including a lead role in Stanley Kubrick's military courtroom drama Paths of Glory (1957), as a troubled mechanic opposite Carroll Baker in Something Wild (1961), as a World War II captain in The Dirty Dozen (1967), and in the gangster film The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967). Other credits include supporting roles in I Walk the Line (1970) and Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes (1971). He also had a prolific career in television, appearing as Sergeant Steve Dekker on the series Not for Hire (1959–1960), and in the television horror film The Night Stalker (1972). After suffering a stroke in 1980, Meeker was forced to retire from acting, and died eight years later of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ralph Meeker, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Most Famous Work
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
(1956) Steve ElkinsClimax!
(1954) 'Griff' GriffithStudio One
(1948) Larry SheridanThe Outer Limits
(1963) John DexterWanted: Dead or Alive
(1958) Martin AshLux Video Theatre
(1950) MikeKraft Suspense Theatre
(1963) Harly ClayThe F.B.I.
(1965) Graham NewcombActing
Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
---|---|---|
2004 | Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (archive footage) | |
2002 | Lt. Driscoll (archive footage) | |
1980 | Dave | |
1979 | Gameboy Baker | |
1978 | N/A | |
N/A | ||
Charlie | ||
Mike | ||
Bert Morton | ||
1977 | N/A | |
1976 | Bensington | |
1975 | Big Lou Hobart | |
Colby | ||
Capt. Moretti | ||
Lieutenant Reardon | ||
1974 | N/A | |
N/A | ||
N/A | ||
Inspector DeBiesse | ||
Dutch Armbreck | ||
Chuck Braswell | ||
1973 | Ben Hoeksema | |
N/A | ||
N/A | ||
N/A | ||
Will Alden | ||
Jim McAndrew | ||
1972 | N/A | |
The Major | ||
Bernie Jenks | ||
1971 | Capt. Luke Danvers | |
N/A | ||
N/A | ||
Police Captain 'Iron Balls' Delaney | ||
1970 | Carl McCain | |
Glenn Walkup | ||
1969 | N/A | |
Burl | ||
1968 | Senator Goddard | |
Curran | ||
1967 | Fog Hanson | |
Tracy Conlin | ||
N/A | ||
George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran | ||
Captain Stuart Kinder | ||
N/A | ||
1966 | Earl Evans | |
N/A | ||
1965 | King Hogan | |
Scott Martin | ||
Graham Newcomb | ||
1963 | Harly Clay | |
John Dexter | ||
Matt Rubio | ||
1962 | N/A | |
1961 | Mike | |
Floyd Cooper | ||
Colonel Yancey | ||
N/A | ||
1960 | N/A | |
1959 | N/A | |
1958 | N/A | |
Martin Ash | ||
1957 | Cpl. Philippe Paris | |
Lieutenant Driscoll | ||
Mike Valla | ||
1956 | Trevor Stevenson | |
Steve Elkins | ||
1955 | Capt. David Malcolm | |
N/A | ||
Carl Spann | ||
Carl Borden | ||
Mel Reeves | ||
John Forbes | ||
Mike Hammer | ||
Geraldo 'Jerry' Barker aka Iceman | ||
1954 | Alex Hill | |
'Griff' Griffith | ||
1953 | Joe Martin | |
Ed James | ||
Pilot Duke Cavanaugh | ||
Willis Cooper | ||
Chuck O'Flair | ||
Lawson the Fugitive | ||
Roy Anderson | ||
1952 | Benny Fields | |
Burt | ||
Socks Barbarrosa | ||
1951 | Wally Walters | |
Rich Adams | ||
Barry Brannon | ||
Sgt. Dobbs | ||
Sergeant William Long | ||
1950 | Nicky Hanks | |
Mike | ||
1948 | Steve Windom | |
Larry Sheridan | ||
Self - Guest Host | ||
Self | ||
Self (archive footage) | ||
Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
Production
Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
---|---|---|
1978 | Executive Producer | |
Year | Role | Movie/Tv |